Sparky
by konasmitchell
Summary: "He lost a pet when he was young, and he is still sad. "Sparky..."


_"James… Spar-Sparky is gone…"_

* * *

><p>Carlos was a lonely kid growing up. Mr. and Mrs. Garcia noticed this. To try and counter this, they enrolled him in peewee hockey, but only saw Carlos make one friend out of it. James.<p>

His parents never knew, but Carlos was the one that was teased constantly during peewee hockey practice. He could never get the flow of running along on skates, he always fumbled and eventually fell. His helmet eventually became his friend during his falls. He could always hear the giggles and taunts of the other children as he got up, except from James.

James was always fed up with seeing Carlos getting this undeserving attention. The day that James stood up for Carlos was the day that they undeniably became best friends.

"Thank you for sticking up for me. I'm not sure how much more I could've taken of them teasing me. I'm not sure if playing hockey is even the right thing for me - you know, my parents only signed me up for this to try and help me make friends."

"Well, you've got a friend in me, Carlitos buddy. Just promise me you'll tell your parents that the other kids are teasing you?"

"Will do, James."

* * *

><p>After that night at practice, Carlos told his parents everything about the hockey team. How he still hadn't made any friends, all the teasing, and how James eventually stuck up for him, and was on his way to becoming Carlos' only friend. As he eventually winded down on his experience, he let out a few tears.<p>

"If you want to, you can quit the hockey team if they're teasing you that much. We won't force you to stay on if they're going to keep teasing you like this." Mrs. Garcia comforted.

"No, I want to stay on. James will stick up for me." Carlos replied, sniffling and wiping away the few tears he cried.

"But Carlos, you don't know if the team will keep teasing you, do you?" His father asked.

"No, but…"

"And with this teasing going on, that's not how you make friends. Even with James sticking up for you, the team just might as well keep teasing you. Carlitos, it will probably be for the better if you quit the team. You can always join again next season if you're still interested in playing hockey."

"Fine, papi. Just let me go to the next practice so I can get James' number, because he is my friend, my only friend…"

* * *

><p>The following week, Carlos sat anxiously as Mr Garcia drove him down to the ice rink where the peewee hockey team held its practices.<p>

"10 minutes, then we're leaving."

"Alright, papi, alright." Carlos replied, as he jumped out of the backseat, slamming the car door as he headed towards the entrance of the ice rink.

As he entered the rink, Carlos could hear the sounds of the blades scraping around on the ice, the little kids running around doing their warmup exercises. He neared the entrance to the ice, waiting until James came around to call his name. "James, can I talk to you for a second?"

James came to a sudden stop at the entrance, sending ice flying everywhere, including all over Carlos' clothes and face. "Sure, what's up?"

"My dad's having me leave the team. I told him what happened and he said it'd be best if I left because who knows if the team would continue to tease me."

"But I'd stick up for you! You know that!"

"That's what I told him, but he thinks that they'd still tease me, so I have to leave. I had to convince him to take me down here, since I want to get my only friend's number and I'd love to still hang out with my best friend."

"I understand. You promise we'll for sure hang out?"

"I promise. Pinky promise." Carlos held out his pinky, waiting for James to lock his pinky with his own.

* * *

><p>Carlos slumped in his seat in the car, alternating between staring at the ripped piece of notebook paper that contained James' number, and gazing out the window, watching as everything passed by.<p>

"Listen, Carlos," Mr. Garcia started as he cleared his throat. "I know we got you started in that peewee hockey in hopes you would start making some friends, but it didn't work out so well. You've heard the saying 'dog is a man's best friend' though, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, your mamá and I were discussing some things the other night, and we were thinking that well… since it's been a little difficult for you to make friends, that maybe getting a dog for you would be the next best thing. Have him be your companion."

"I guess so. Just as long as I can still have James come over and have fun with real people."

"Of course. How about we go to the pound tomorrow so you can pick out the dog you want?"

"Alright." Carlos sighed, and went back to gazing out the car window.


End file.
